This invention relates to a mobile computer and, more specifically, to a structure with removable components.
Since mobility and miniaturization has recently characterized the direction of the computer industry, wearable or user-supported PCs are beginning to appear in the marketplace. U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,824 discloses a hands-free, portable computer system which involves a body-worn, hands-free computer which does not rely exclusively upon a keyboard input or manual activation apparatus but rather has various additional activation means which are hands-free. At the time of the invention, this represented the state-of-the-art with respect to user-supported computers. Previously, users who needed mobile computers were left only with laptops, palmtops or PDAs running very limited operating systems. The output devices of U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,824 (824) consists of any display including a head-mounted display (HMD) or a neck-hung or a wrist-mounted display or a flat panel display (FPD). The CPU and battery can be worn on a belt as two separate components which are connected by a single wire to the output device. The CPU is housed in a single system enclosure which contains memory, CPU, hard disk, connectors and PC card slots, the basic components of any computer box. The battery can be external to this device and is also worn on the belt and connected by a single wire to the CPU providing it with power. It would be very desirable to provide an 824-type system whereby the user may reduce or increase the robustness of his system through the addition or removal of modular components. For example, it may be desirable depending upon the application of the user to trade off capability for size of the device. In some instances, the user may not need the extra battery capacity, additional PCMCIA card slots, extra memory, connector array or other non-essential components.
The disclosed invention overcomes the deficiencies in the non-wearable prior art computer through a novel and ingenious modular computer architecture. The invention is directed towards an expandable user-supported computer system hereinafter designated as the Mobile Assistant xe2x80x9cMAxe2x80x9d. This MA is a variant on the existing user-supported computer with a modular expansion capability.
In the present invention, a singular unit case or housing is provided with a plurality of indentations or compartments. Each compartment has built-in electrical connections to each of the other compartments. If there is a computer component housed in a compartment then it will be in electrical connection with all other components in other compartments in the singular unit case. Modular components can be snapped into or removed from the skeleton unit case which is singular in form and compact. For example, it is known to use a belt or vest with pockets for housing computer components such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,285,398 and 5,491,651. The problems of the system of these two patents are systems that are too bulky, fit around the entire waist or torso of a user and are contrary to the direction of the computer industry which is smaller, more compact, less obtrusive and easy to handle.
The present invention provides an ice cube-like tray with several compartments each of which can house a computer component. One can house a CPU, the other a battery or an I/O device or a speech recognition means, etc. Each modular computer component is removable thereby allowing the user to insert as many or as few components as he or she needs.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a user supported computer system devoid of the above-noted disadvantages.
Another object of this invention is to provide a simple, effective means to tailor make a user-supported computer to specifically fit ones needs.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a foundation tray into which as many or as few computer components may be inserted.
Yet a further object of this invention is to provide a wearable computer that is lightweight, fits on a small portion of user""s body (not totally around a waist or torso).
Another object of this invention is to provide a very easy to manufacture and economical wearable computer that reduces manufacturing costs for this type computer.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide a lightweight, easy to adjust from product generation to generation without a need to fully redesign.
Yet still another object of this invention is to provide a novel base computer tray into which a plurality of computer components can be removably inserted as needed.
These and other objects are accomplished in accordance with this invention by providing a MA base tray into which any of a number of computer components removably fit. The easiest way to explain the present invention is to compare the base tray with an ice cube tray with each of the compartments in electrical connection with all of the other compartments. On the outside of the tray are ports for connection to peripherals such as video cameras, PCMCIA card devices, head or other type displays, printers, keyboards, etc. The monitor can be part of the cover for the tray or can be connected via the ports. On the bottom portion (side closest to the user when used) are belt loops for attachment to the belt or other portion of the user""s body. Any suitable display may be used such as head-mounted display, display integral with the tray or computer housing, neck hung displays, wrist-mounted displays, flat panel displays or any other suitable display. It is critical to the present invention that the system contain voice recognition means of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,305,244 and 5,844,824 whose disclosures are incorporated by reference into the present disclosure.
At various times and in relation to the desired application, it may be desirable for a user to have more or less capability in exchange for a larger or smaller physical form factor. Thus, if a user wanted to use the system in a minimal configuration with the lightest, smallest form factor, he could remove from the tray modular components of the MA system such as extra batteries, PC card slots, array of connectors, additional memory or storage modules or other non-essential components. In this manner he could have a single, thin box or tray capable of fitting in a coat pocket coupled to a single output device, be it a HMD or FPD, CRT or other small wired or wireless display device. In other circumstances the user may be willing to accept a fully-occupied tray in order to gain extra battery life to the system or to add additional interfaces or input/output devices. Finally, there may be a more expanded configuration of the mobile MA enclosure which is formed by plugging in a third component to the tray base unit combination to provide an even greater expansion and interface capability. This configuration will be the most robust and would suit users who are more concerned about the nature of their application than the physical dimensions of the device. This configuration would add a hot swappable heavy duty battery as well as mobile device bay port for expansion devices and a USB hub to attach additional USB devices. Additionally, there can be a desktop configuration whereby the base MA system enclosure is connected to a desktop docking station enabling it to function as a traditional PC with any compatible peripherals. Thus, the design permits flexible configurations which can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the user and his application.